ABSTRACT
Effective teaching of sight-singing skills must include both daily group practice and regular individual assessment. Indiana State School Music Association contests adjudicate high school choirs on the following sight-reading criteria, depending on the level of choir. Composing in Choir is important resource for high school choir directors. Specific teaching strategies have been researched and found to significantly improve ensemble members' attentiveness and achievement. Teachers often are inadequately prepared to teach these skills and also feel that there simply is not enough time to make national standards a priority when there are performances to prepare. The teacher gives lessons on word stress and its relationship to rhythmic feel, on the importance of balancing repetition and variety, and on the placement of consonance versus dissonance within a phrase. Score study sets up the conductor for efficient rehearsals. An overall analysis of the form, texture, and unifying element(s) of the piece is a useful starting point in planning consecutive rehearsals.
